Big Stupid Warm Speakers


I'm getting ready for a speaker change. I've owned B&W 804 matrix speakers for about 12 years now. While I've enjoyed the refinement of them there's always been something missing.

Yes that's right, and that something might be BIG STUPID WOOFERS. Some of my favorite speakers ever were a pair of Infinity's I paid $300 for in 1979. They had 15 inch woofers, tweeters that were harsh and not the greatest, but these things roared like an angry lion even when no music was playing. When it was playing, about anything from Oingo Boingo to Mozart was a visceral experience.

Now with upper end speakers, you don't know there's bass until there's supposed to be, the tweeters are refined and realistic sounding, there's some wonderful imaging etc. But it's somehow too polite - I want to get back some of the warmth from the big woofer days. And no, using a sub isn't the same thing.

I remember being in a high end store about 10 years ago when a Polk Rep was there showing this huge new Polk speaker that was just incredible sounding. Big warm, realistic, detailed -awesome. I asked the store owner when he'd be getting them. He rolled his eyes and said, "Our customers are too discriminating for this type of speaker. The bottom end was way out of control."

So maybe I want out of control instead of polite. Can anyone put me in the direction of some BIG STUPID WARM SPEAKERS that still have some refined and high end attributes? The rest of my system is all Cary HT that retails for around $10K.

Cary Cinema 6 Preamp Processor
Cary Cinema 5 Multichannel amp (200 WPC)
Cary Cinema DVD 6 (incredible with CD's)

Even though the system is HT, the electronics do very well with music. And even the they're Cary components, they're solid state - but easy on the ears. I listen to Classical, Jazz, Electronic, Bluegrass, etc.
Oh yeah, and looking to spend under $3K/pair.

Has anyone else gone through this? Any speaker recommendations? Thanks.
larryb
You might want to investigate the Harbeth or Spendor line of speakers, which tend to be very warm and musical, and can have reasonably large woofers. For a bit tighter bass but keeping some warmth, Von Schweikerts come to mind. I concur with the Vandersteen votes above as well. I also agree that "high-end" speakers are becoming way too analytical in the top octaves, especially for CD-only listeners.
I was kind of in the same boat. Had a pair of Infinity Ren. 90s and got tired of the lean, lightweight sound. I upgraded to JM Lab 946 Electras and now have more of the slam and dynamics I was craving. Much easier to drive than the Infinitys were, 93 db vs 87 db. Detailed, dynamic, accurate and bass you can feel. They work great with every type of music including rock.
How about Dunlavy SC-IV? I myself try to get one too. But, it's quite old, replaced by SC-IVa, and the manufacturer had closed down.
Surpised no one has mentioned PSB Stratus Gold. The originals had warm bass, but were still civilized in the higher freq. Bring plenty of watts.
I second the advice on JBL Northridge. Available at Best Buy, but less $$$$ on internet. Not only do they have the sound you are looking for,but you will be amazed at what these speakers can do at the price point.